It is often desirable and/or necessary to accurately prepare a surface of an object to be cut or otherwise modified. For example, when cutting pipes or tubes for connection with other pipes or tubes, or cutting cylindrical concrete forms, a cut square and true to the longitudinal axis is required to ensure proper connection of the pipes and/or placing a cut edge flat and tight against a flat perpendicular surface and/or for creating a flat square surface when pouring concrete in the concrete form (e.g., a SONOTUBE®). Failure to provide a straight cut within certain tolerances may require subsequent modification in an attempt to correct the variation and often still is not acceptable for use, thereby resulting in additional cost.
For example, if the cut on the bottom edge of the concrete form is not cut square and does not fit tight against an existing footing, the wet concrete will seep from beneath the concrete form causing lift to the concrete form (e.g., concrete form tube) and waste in concrete material. The seepage also builds up around the outside base of the concrete form. This build up must be removed in order to remove the concrete form from, for example, a pier pour once the concrete sets, as removal of the concrete from the concrete pour is typically a code requirement. Additional costs also may result including the time and material cost for cutting another pipe or form and wasted material from improper cuts. In some cases, part of a project may have to be performed again as a result of a failure to provide straight cuts (e.g., repouring concrete supports within cylindrical forms to provide a flat top support surface).
It is known to use a measuring device, such as a tape measure, for example, when marking an object to provide guide marks for use in cutting the object. For example, when marking cylindrical tubes or any type of cylindrical object for cutting (e.g., by providing marks for use in making a straight cut), numerous measurements are required to provide guide marks along the outer circumference of the tube for use when cutting the object (e.g., making a mark every inch along the circumference of a tube a predetermined distance from the end of the tube). This process may be susceptible to user error. For example, incorrect measuring or variations in the marks may be due to the measuring device not being used parallel with the longitudinal axis of the object while placing each individual mark. The measured distance becomes shortened with each degree of variance from true parallel of the longitudinal axis of the object being made by the user and is very time consuming. Further, this process is required for each and every cut, even if each object is to be cut to the same length. Additionally, if the end from which measurements are being made is not square and straight (e.g., ends of cylindrical object are cut uneven), it is difficult to ensure that the guide marks will be straight and requires additional time (e.g., different measurements to compensate for uneven reference edge). As the length and diameter of the tubes to be cut increases, so does the time required to prepare the cylindrical object for cutting and the likelihood of errors.
Templates and other marking devices are also known for marking objects, particularly objects to be cut. However, these known templates and marking devices often fail to provide accurate marking and are time consuming, difficult to use and not conducive to field work.
Thus, known devices and methods often fail to provide accurate marking of an object to be cut (e.g., accurately marking straight lines around the surface of an object to be cut) and require extra time and effort to use (e.g., difficult to maintain in proper orientation against an object to be marked). Further, these known devices and methods often fail to provide flexibility in accurately and easily marking different types and sizes of objects, especially objects that are to be cut in the field (e.g., on a job site) or have a larger diameter (e.g., diameter greater than six inches).